Movie scripting

Earlier this year, the news about the organisation of a big international film festival in Macau aroused great expectations. Strong ambition and commitment were promised. Macau was going to carve out a space in the international movie scene. An internationally renowned expert was hired to become the Festival director, giving punch to the stated intentions. All people having a stake in the matter hailed the effort, whether they were professionally involved in the industry or just supporting fans.
Now, less than one month before the event, its star director quits. But no, no problem, we are reassured. All is fine and will go according to plan. No need for replacement; the Director of tourism, the main public institution involved in the event, will take over. An association few had heard about until now will guarantee the operational bits. All is under control.
These events raise several questions. Possibly, all was done for the best, and the intentions and commitment of all involved are irreproachable. But, to start with, the division of responsibilities between the various parties is unclear. It is certainly not a stretch to state the mood does not look pretty. The consequences may prove less than benign. Good reputations are hard to build and easy to lose. The opposite happens with the bad ones.
It does not help that the statements by those involved further muddied the waters. First, they mentioned unspecified divergences between the director and the association. Then, no, the director was leaving for personal reasons. Presumably, that means private affairs. But there is no sense in that the two parties ‘diverge’ about the private matters of one of them. Now the association is threatening to take the ex-director to court. No, it does not look good.
The situation is hardly compatible with the expectations. We just have to go back to the news published when the hiring was announced to realise it. The departure at such short notice, and for reasons yet to be explained, can only be a source of concern. If it is so devoid of consequences, as claimed, one could ask why one needed a director at all. We are reassured about a process with unclear contours, and where the authority of the government is at stake, to say the least. We may want to believe all is well and done for the greater good. But faith becomes harder to attain when heaven fails to provide palpable, inspiring signals.